Orléans Star
Published: Friday, February 19, 2010

Olympic Legacy

At last after 22 years, the winter Olympics are back on Canadian soil and the medals are starting to come in. If your household is like ours, bedtime for the kids is likely being relaxed a bit over the next few weeks and the Team Canada men’s hockey games have been input into the fridge calendar, work and significant other’s agenda as well.  

The sacrifices and training of our athletes – mostly done in obscurity for the last four to ten years – will now be celebrated and many of us will become instant sofa-bound experts on deep breathing techniques for the biathlon, proper form for the triple axel and the optimal hand position for maximum distance in the ski jump.

The Olympics also give governments the cover to partake in unprecedented spending on venues and infrastructure under the guise of leaving a multi-generational legacy for the host city, future athletes and the dollars that will flow from future tourism. Admittedly the economic activity around the games is enormous; however, the debate as to the legacy left after most Olympics more problematic with debt, and lots of it, being the most enduring legacy. Think Montreal, 1976.

After watching the opening ceremonies I was both proud and frustrated. Proud of our aboriginal peoples, proud of the immense natural beauty which so many Canadians never experience or simply take for granted, and proud of the international stars that took part. On the other hand, the opening ceremonies reconfirmed every perception the world holds about us: the land is cold full of vast prairies, big trees, swimming whales, snow, thunder and Mounties on horseback.

Not really seen during an admittedly impressive opening production was what Canada will offer the world during this century and beyond: advances in health science, miniaturization in electronics and wireless (think Blackberry), new composite aerospace engineering that will fly us faster, farther and out to the stars. Oh well, maybe the theatrical types can find a way to incorporate these types of Canadian selling points into the opening ceremonies next time we host a summer or winter games; about the time I’m collecting a CPP cheque!

Nonetheless, the flame relay beforehand and now the games themselves are inspiring many, especially youngsters, to dream of representing their country on the world stage. Educators have seized on the games as an opportunity to teach their students about far flung lands and unique cultures and advertisers have turned their creative juices up a notch to entertain us between downhill ski runs. It’s sort of like the Superbowl ad machine stretched over the entire month of February.

Even if you want to tune out of the games, good luck with that. With a ratio of over 10 accredited media types for each athlete competing; coverage of the games is ubiquitous. So enjoy the spectacle, discover a new sport and Go CANADA Go!